Fertile women 'dress for attention'
Women wear less when they are fertile, study finds
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Tuesday, 10, Oct 2006 04:01
Women who are fertile put more effort into the clothes they wear, a new study has found.
Previous research has suggested that women hide all signs of ovulation, the time when an egg is released into the womb, but scientists at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) argue that their study proves even total strangers can detect a difference in what women wear during ovulation.
"Near ovulation, women dress to impress, and the closer women come to ovulation, the more attention they appear to pay to their appearance," said Martie Haselton, the study's lead author and a UCLA associate professor of communication studies and psychology.
"They tend to put on skirts instead of [trousers], show more skin and generally dress more fashionably."
The researchers tracked 30 women in committed relationships through their entire 30-day cycle. Urine tests were used to determine ovulation as well as their least fertile period.
Photographs were then taken of the women; once when they were fertile and once when they were not.
42 people were then asked which photo they thought the women were trying to look more attractive in.
In 60 per cent of cases the judges picked the photos taken during the fertile phase - a frequency which the researchers say is well beyond random chance.
Dr Haselton concluded: "Many things affect the clothing that women decide to put on when they leave the house.Just one of them is a somewhat subtle event that changes their biochemistry. And yet this change manifests itself in an observable and pretty dramatic difference in how women dress."
The study adds to previous research which found subtle shifts in women's behaviour each month as they near their most fertile period, including a tendency to flirt with men other than their partners and an inclination to stray away from their routine.